RBS posts Q1 loss as litigation costs bite

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has set aside extra cash to cover litigation costs, helping drive it to a loss in the first quarter.

The state-backed lender reported an attributable loss of £446m for the first quarter of 2015, which included restructuring costs of £453m, and £856m of litigation and conduct charges to cover alleged foreign exchange manipulation. Operating profit totalled £325m, compared with £1.28bn in Q1 2014 and a loss of £375m in Q4 2014. Adjusted operating profit was £1.63bn, up 16% from Q1 2014. RBS agreed to sell its international private banking arm Coutts International to Swiss bank Union Bancaire Privee in March. Treating it as a 'strategic disposal', the bank said it recorded a net £122m l...